[F24-PP-PT] Blood in the Water

[Bran 1]

A long and bitter round of extortion, of the multitude of nobles that were made fat with coin and with a little bit of pressure would part with it. His men had already toted away quite a bit of these ill gotten gains, yet this city was a vast place where the harvest remained fruitful. Sliding in and out of crowds and slipping into structures to which held exorbitant wealth, wasteful and excessive. The cloth cover over his the lower half of his face concealed his marker, his appearance and left only those cool and commanding black colored eyes above it. The faint outline as it traced his features, and yet left far too much to the imagination. Another infraction as he'd drag a blade along the frame of a door, causing the bolt to break off and turn black as if decayed. Sliding inside, a maid fluffing a pillow catches him with a shriek. As if right on cue, some of the many guards on the street begin to grow aggressive, rushing to the building in droves.

Bran turns from the NPC in a glare, his stealth blown as he bounds up the stairs with bronze wearing goons hot on his heels. Up and over the banister, a small ball tossed to his feet on the steps causes a smokescreen to fill the staircase. The upper floors, he peers off and through one of the upper story windows. A quick decision sees him run full force into it, sending a spray of glass and drawing cuts along his arms in a vibrant and painful red. Bracing on the wall of the building across, he'd lunge down toward the street as the guards struggle to decipher what had just occurred. Bran slides briefly, showing a level of expertise in his acrobatics before he begins to bound through the city. Drone after drone of guardsman pull into a frenzy, alerting the city in all its birth that a red player was within its mist.

---

<<Assist System Engaged>>
Level: 1
Paragon: 0
Tier: 1
True Tier: 1

Final EXP Reward: +0%

---

Bran | HP: 20/20 | EN: 20/20 | DMG: 1

Spoiler

 

Name: Bran
True Tier: 1
Level: 1
Paragon Level: 0
HP: 20/20
EN: 20/20

Stats:
Damage: 1

Equipped Gear:
Weapon/Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Armor/Trinket: 
  - 
Shield/Armor/Trinket: 
  - 

Combat Mastery:
  - 

Combat Shift:
  - 

Familiar Skill:
  - 

Custom Skill:
  - 

Skills:

Extra Skills:

Inactive Extra Skills:

Addons:

Mods:

Inactive Mods:

Battle Ready Inventory:
  - Starter Healing Potions (Heals 50 HP) x3

Housing Buffs:

Guild Hall Buffs:

Scents of the Wild Totem:

Wedding Ring:

Crafting Profession:

Gathering Profession:

 

 

[Mari 1]

Mari walked casually through the 24th floor, A small leather satchel lightly and rhythmically banged against her thigh as she walked. Normally, Mari wouldn’t have her weapon out but today she had it hanging casually over both her shoulders, using it to loop her arms through. The miasma bubbled from the halberd blade, leaving behind little black bubbles that would pop in the air as she walked. Scalabis…one of the few main settlements that didn't care about your cursor. It was…nice to be able to walk through a city again. Even if she did get a few looks from players she had passed by.

In her ear she had a lit cigarette, facing away from her face. It had been only a few days but she missed him. His intoxicating presence. His goofy smile. So she kept a lit cigarette behind her ears during the times she felt particularly nostalgic for the man. Facing away from her because she didn’t want it right in her face - just the scent.

It was only a matter of days till she would be dragged into the boss fight on the 29th floor. Mari wasn’t looking forward to it. She still didn’t know where she stood with her guild. If she was truly part of it, if she even wanted to be part of it. Everyone within it worked so well together. And she - an outlier. Each member was bright, genuinely wanting to escape this place when Mari still wasn’t sure, ever since she had lost her daughter she had come to the realization there was nothing out there for her. The woman had moved past her self hatred - and when she told Freyd she wanted to live, truly live. She meant it.

 

But…ever since she returned from prison something felt off - and she didn’t want to let it fester. Talking to Baldur was the best thing to do in this situation. Being open and honest was something she struggled with in the past. She’d just push it all down and ignore it but this time…she was going to communicate her thoughts, her feelings. It had worked for her thus far. Mostly. She had butted heads with Freyd sometimes but only because he was concerned for her, and wanted her safe.

‘STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW’
    “YOU’RE UNDER ARREST’

Mari sighed heavily, at first assuming the cries were directed at her - but…seeing a lithe figure fell just a few feet in front of her. “What the?” Their eyes locked for a moment before he turned and ran. Several legionnaire guards were following in hot pursuit. That won’t end well.

Mari almost didn’t want to get involved. It’d be a headache…it’s just adding more and more infractions to her ever growing list. But…what kind of person would she be if she tried to value an inane list over someones life? Even if they were a fellow marked player. Mari wrestled with herself for a moment - if she did this…she wouldn’t be able to talk to Baldur till after the raid. But…but…Mari shook her head. She’d not forgive herself if she found out the man died to a bunch of overly zealous npcs.

“Aight.” Mari started running, following close behind him - then when she had drawn enough distance between herself and three of the guards she pulled a small sphere from her satchel. One filled with a noxious yellow gas. She threw it at the feet of the men behind her - the effect instantaneous. They fell to their knees, coughing and gagging.

Three more joined, their sights now on her.

Right. Oops.  Now she was a target. One was close enough to swing at her, Mari was able to duck under it and dodge. She hit the blunt end of her polearm into the underside of the legionnaires jaw and when he faltered Mari brought the halberd back around. Cleaving his head clean off his torso. Shit. She just had to get involved.

 

<<Assist System Engaged>>
Level: 1
Paragon: 0
Tier: 1
True Tier: 11

Final EXP Reward: +5%

Mari | HP: 30/30 | EN: 25/25 | DMG: 12 | MIT:26 | ACC:5 | AA | EVA:4 | BH:2 | BLI: 8/-5 | ENV-O: 8 | PARA-V | LD:1
 

Spoiler

 

Name: Mari True Tier: 11 Level: 1 Paragon Level: 0 HP: 30/30 EN: 25/25 Stats: Damage: 12 Mitigation: 26 Accuracy: 5 Evasion: 4 Battle Healing: 2 Loot Die: 1 Stealth Rating: 5 AA BLI: 8/-5 ENV-O: 8 PARA-V Equipped Gear: Weapon/Armor/Trinket: - Paralytic Contagion | T4 | Absolute ACC I | Paralytic Venom I | Envenom OFF I | Blight I Armor/Trinket: - Infernal Shadow-Redemption | T4 | EVA III | MIT I Shield/Armor/Trinket: - Glasses | T1 | ACC III Combat Mastery: - Combat Mastery: Damage R3 Combat Shift: - AOE Shift Familiar Skill: - Rending Familiar Custom Skill: - Skills: - Battle Healing R5 - Charge - Cloth Armor R5 - Energist - Polearm R5 Extra Skills: - Survival - Hiding R5 - First Aid R3 Inactive Extra Skills: Addons: - Focus - Nimble - Precision - Resolve - Stamina Mods: - Athletics - Night Vision - Surpise Attack: Trickster - Untraceable - Vanish Inactive Mods: Battle Ready Inventory: Housing Buffs: - Storage Closet: +1 Battle Ready Inventory Slot - Dining Room: Turn 2 identical food items (same quality, tier, & enhancements) into a Lesser Feast. A Lesser Feast contains 4 portions of the food items sacrificed. Lesser Feasts created this way cannot be used outside of the thread they are created. Limit 1 item created per thread. - Living Room: Increases out of combatHP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts. - Basement: Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll - Master Bedroom: -1 energy cost for the first three expenditures of each combat - Master Bathroom: The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down) - Ornate Fishing Pond: +2 Fishing EXP per Attempt and additional +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts. - Mega Slime Farm: +10% EXP to a thread. Limit one use per month. Must be used on a player's first post in a thread. Cooldown begins counting down when used in a post. Guild Hall Buffs: Scents of the Wild Totem: Wedding Ring: Crafting Profession: - Alchemist[exp] R Gathering Profession: - Fishing[5exp] R1

 

 

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Mari

[Bran 1]

Dropping square out into the street, he'd look up to lock eyes with the Pink PK'er of all people. Eyes narrow as he'd murmur beneath his breath "You." but the screaming of the guards at his flank immediately forced him to keep running. The man was already on edge, and this city was about to become a hornets nest of guardsman rushing down on them. Unlike players they could be harmed, but the droves of them would not stop in the slightest. The crack of glass would see him scan his peripheral and see a cloud of yellow smoke, cutting off the pursuit but is quickly replaced by another battalion rushing in from a side street.

The glint of a pair of blades, Bran aimed to carve through them. His body would flicker and take on an opaque blackness, and his movements seemed to shift from something fluid to what would look almost like a slideshow. Black mirages like snapshots of his body, left in a trail with each presumed step. The moment those copies seemed to convey him making impact he'd pass through harmlessly. Those replicants would convey stills of stabs and thrown weapons, frozen in time in a myriad of them causing the legionaries to swing up at them helplessly. A still appears spread low, and knives planted in each hostile would transition from an opaque black to one of full color. Their skin would start to shrivel and die, as coils of blackish green energy rip at their wounds tearing them open and the wakizashi would burrow themselves into their bodies like a parasite. That armor proved worthless, and his precision was clear.

Like bowling pins they all fall, turning to withered bags of bone and flesh unable to breathe or stand. The duplicate shadow like forms all vanish in unison, as the man continued to rush on.

[Mari 1]

You."
 

Me?

Right. Of course he knew her…it seemed almost anyone who donned an orange player crystal had known of her. Mari wasn’t even surprised anymore. At least he seemed capable.

Mari was only a few steps behind the man now; enough distance to avoid any strikes from him, but close enough to be able to run in pace. Her heart hit hard and heavy against her chest as her feet flew across the cobbled path. Her eyes glanced at the man as he went almost opaque black. She blinked. The only thing familiar to it was one of Freyd’s tricks. He started to move, and she couldn’t keep up with what he was doing. Some kind of after image? Using Blight? God Mari had so many questions but not right now. He managed to very quickly fell the second battalion that had been after them.

The woman had to be honest, she wasn’t exactly sure where the exit was - it was her first time here - but he clearly knew where he was going. As he rounded a corner Mari pulled a small bottle out of her satchel. She ripped out its cork with her teeth, wincing as the scent of gasoline and acetone hit her in the face. With a snap of her fingers - her index light up in a small wavering flame, Mari pressed it to the soaked piece of cloth in the bottle and it lit up instantly. Before it had a chance to explode in her face Mari threw it behind her. The thing exploded on impact as it hit a legionnaire in the chest - His screams became garbled as his armour melted to his skin. The accelerant created a wall of fire behind them that would burn for several minutes. Mari couldn’t help but snort, then laugh in amusement. Lancaster would be proud.

Somehow, the two worked well together - She was able to keep oncoming waves at a distance - and he was taking care of any who would get too close. Mari wondered if she had even needed to step in - he seemed plenty capable enough. But there was no point in trying to regret her choice now. Mari caught sight of a player nearby, too close to the flames. She grabbed the womans hand and pulled her forward a few steps.

“Hey. Sorry bout this..”  Mari said as she yanked the woman forward and pushed her safely into a pile of  stacked potato sacks. Away from the flames. That was close…too close. That could have been bad. Mari clenched her jaw. She had to be more careful.

[Bran 1]

The wall of fire cut off their flank but within the busy streets of Scalabis, there were so many avenues for them to start clambering down. The answer was getting up and out of the standard fare. A glint of his eye sees it transition to a yellow almost cat like glow, and he looks toward a nearby tavern. Without warning Mari would find her bag get just a tad bit lighter, cupped in his palm a little vial of clear liquid. The cigarette in her hair, he sparks the match and tosses the thing into the locked door causing the occupants to scream. The door weakened by the flame, he'd twist his shoulder in a battering ram and charge through. Splinters of wood and lumber cascade in embers, as the man bounds inside.

"Duck." The only word he offers to the orange haired pursuer. His foot stomps on a knocked over chair as he turns to face the door, causing it to spring up onto its legs. A swift tap of his right foot sees it bounce up. The man pivots and slams the blade of his left foot against it, sending the piece of wooden furniture out the door into a the legionaries, causing the man to fumble and fall down the stairs on top of the others with the chair exploding into shrapnel. His eyes advance toward the ceiling, and he proceeds straight up pointing a knife outward toward the other people inside. As if warning them to not try anything stupid.

The inn rooms were locked, but the window the far wall was the whole goal. A knife slides underneath the lock, and with a sharp tug its snapped off clattering onto the ground. It starts to bubble and melt into a puddle of ink, as Hayate rips the window up and turns throwing a thin tether on the far roof. A thin metallic wire, he jams the opposed end into the side of the tavern and hoists himself out and on top of it. 

[Mari 1]

“H-HEY!” Mari called out to him as she felt a rustle of her bag. That was bad. He could have taken all manner of things out of there. Granted the worst one she had already used…and to be true to her word - Mari only ever made one at a time of the noxious yellow orb. Then, a brush against her hair and the cigarette- her comfort smell reminding her of her pyromaniac man was removed. “Oi.” Slightly more annoyed, frustrated at that. With a small toss he aimed it at a locked door.

The wooden door groaned and splintered before bursting into flame - causing people inside to scream from shock. The flames quickly went out, as intended and the man threw his shoulder into it. Mari had to shift her attention to a guard behind her - she drew her halbard across the gap in his armour between torso and legs - causing another gurgle as he collapsed. The Legionnaires at her level weren’t exactly a threat one on one - but the sheer growing number of them was growing concerning. 

 

"Duck." 

Mari didn’t question it, she ducked - storing her weapon away in her inventory. She still had a bag of tricks and it was proving to be cumbersome. Mari followed him up the stairs, no one else dare follow the two player killers. The few players inside the tavern safe from harm. At least physically. Most probably wouldn’t sleep that night, seeing their safe space completely destroyed in a matter of seconds.

The two ran past the rooms, heading toward the window. Pausing just enough for the man to run a hand under the lock. Mari used this moment to catch her breath, and pull out another cigarette. Lighting it with a snap of her fingers and placing it exactly where the previous one had been. An odd action to anyone to be sure. Why light up such a thing only to shove it in your hair?

“STOP! In the name of the LAW”

Mari turned to see a single legionnaire approaching them. The space was small. And there wouldn’t have been enough room to fight with her large weapon. This was an opportunity. Mari glanced down at her hand - wearing a finger-less leather glove. Its components modified. The casing sitting on top of her wrist rather than beneath it. A small metal nub sat innocuously on top of it. Mari pulled it out, and snapped her fingers - the flame flit up the wire with a small fwoosh - as the lock clattered to the ground Mari charged the guard, ducking underneath his attack. His sword became stuck - embedded into the wall and Mari used this opportunity to swing the garrote wire around his neck she grabbed the small metal nub on the other side of it and using that and her wrist she tugged him forward -hard. “Boato.” She whispered as the flames on the string grew - searing into his flesh as he gurgled before slumping down. Then with a quick tug - the thing wire flew back into its casing with a quick snap. Mari winced at the recoil as it caused her wrist to jerk back. “Fuck..” 

Turning back to the window Mari could see him hoisted on top of a thin wire attached to the other side of the building. THere was no way that thing would support the weight of two people. Could she trust him enough to keep it up? Only one way to find out. Waiting for him to cross Mari ripped a small length of material from her scarf with her teeth and wrapped it around her ungloved hand. Then with a swing up she was hanging from the wire. Hand over hand she went till she managed to get to the other side. Not quite as graceful as the other man she managed to haul herself up onto the roof.

Her hands hurt. Her finger was starting to burn. She couldn’t keep lighting fires for long.

[Bran 1]

The man slid out to the sounds of another NPC being gagged and destroyed, grasping onto the line with both hands and lifting his legs up to it in one fell swoop. Easily the man transitions above it, and skips along the tether like a tight rope. The guards wouldn't manage, and Bran looks back to confirm it. The woman however, clamped to the string with a piece of torn fabric worms her way down the wire albeit precariously. The man would step away from the roofs edge, pointing a blade out toward the woman knowing full well the depths of her madness and her supposed recovery. A frontline puppet. He'd ask in a cold expression, taking in her appearance as if cataloging it. Her names, Her friends, her family, all of it. Something sickening lingering in those facts, but his hand is stayed through orders Hayate would not undermine.

"Why are you following me?" Bran offers sharply on the defensive, an abrasive snap as he'd size her motive. The guards would no longer be able to give them chase, which means this shaky alliance was through.

[Mari 1]

The man had stepped away from the roofs edge, Mari was barely able to right herself up before she had a blade pointed at her. Instinctively, her hand dipped into her satchel, blue eyes staring up at the man. Trying to gauge him. He was poised. Ready to attack her - but he hadn’t. He hadn’t. He could have very easily done so by now. He could have pushed her off the roof, snapped the cord - any number of things. Slowly, carefully Mari pulled her hand out of her satchel, showing him her empty palm.

 

“Kinda…got swept up in all that.” Mari said carefully. Her eyes shifted to the chaotic streets below as the legionnaire scrambled to find them. “I saw someone being chased by some fuckin NPCs…so…” She brought her hands together and let them flower out, wriggling her fingers - “fwoom. If I had to choose between someone like you, or a digital nothing, you’d win out every time.” By ‘you’ she meant a player, even if he was marked a PKer. He didn’t seem too amused at her antics.

Mari sighed. It was then. She crossed her arms. “This is my first time here, I didn’t know the way outta the city limits. I assumed you did so I was following. There wasn’t anything else to it.”

Time for her own question now. “If you dislike me so much, why haven’t you attacked me?” Her thoughts ran back to the way his eyes lit up in recognition at her when they first crossed paths. “You clearly think you know me.”

[Bran 1]

Blade held aloft as she'd open her hands, trying to prove she was attempting to parley. "You have a tendency of getting swept up." The man remarked with his eyes narrowing for a brief flicker, you can see the shape of his lips move beneath the mask concealing his cursor. "How very noble of you" His appearance would shift to black hair in a blink of an eye, a lengthy looking Beat still sporting that knife keeping her at about 10 paces. The girl was in her past a ravenous untamed animal, pumped full of her own dope and ratcheted outside of her own mind. It was his opinion that she was too rogue, like a feral beast. No sense of self control, and needed to be put down. Yet the leader spared her, ordering she be left alone. Hayate would not undermine whatever plan that was set, and his own feeling set aside. The woman was vile, her kills pointless and served little.

“If you dislike me so much, why haven’t you attacked me?”

"Because I have honor, duty....purpose." His appearance transitions to her own blackened and crazed history, matched with red eyes that were horrid and empty. That sickly smile nothing more then a mirage, and yet so very real. "I know you Mari. Everything you have been. Rule and order prevent me from slicing your throat, and if that ever changes I will not hesitate." A bite on the one word, a name with emphasis. "Walk the roofs to the north, have fun with your toys." A shake of his head in the direction, blade remaining held aloft. The connotation would imply he was referring to the people she cared about, because from his point of view it would only be a matter of time before she snapped again.

[Mari 1]

"You have a tendency of getting swept up."

"Ah..." She couldn't fault him there. "You're...not wrong." She admitted with a long and deep breath. So many people had told her she had a tendency to do that. Even now, she still had. Standing here in front of the man was proof of that. So she couldn't say she was exactly better at that. But she was better at controlling her emotions. "I can't even say I've gotten better at that - hell..." She said, repeating her inner thoughts. "Standing before you is proof of that. But-" Her eyes kept to his. Steely cerulean filled with a strong conviction she hadn't had in her previous years. "I have many regrets, many painful ones." She whispered. Thinking of her daughter, the start of her downfall. "I wanted to die. I tore at everything around me. I can never heal from what I did. I didn't plan to leave this place. I still don't. I sat alone in a dark prison for two years and it will still never be enough to atone for some of the things I did." Mari held to herself tighter. This was hard.

"So yes. I have many regrets. but I don't regret this."

"Because I have honor, duty....purpose."

"And from the way you speak at me with such vitriol. You believe I don't." Again. She couldn't blame him. Mari shook her head softly. Closing her eyes as he shifted into a visage of her past. At one point, that would have riled her up. Upset her. Made her angry. But not now. After dealing with her Gemini, this was childs play. Orange cursor. Having an intimate knowledge of who she was and her past. Mari had to wonder if he was part of the Laughing Coffin. Their conversation was so dangerously precarious so she dare not ask him. 

"Maybe I should thank whoever holds your rule and order, your boss, your big cheese, whoever it is." 

"Walk the roofs to the north, have fun with your toys." 

Toys

Now...That was a word that got to her. Mari flinched and turned her gaze away.  She wanted to bite back at him. But quite frankly he had every right to act this way. Hell, even just before - she was testing things out on the guards, the NPCs. 

"You only know the me of the past." She said simply. "I don't have such a thing. I never wanted to."

[Bran 1]

"Maybe I should thank whoever holds your rule and order, your boss, your big cheese, whoever it is."

Lancaster.... The name raced through his head immediately, if even a word of this reached the ₣₳₵ɆⱠɆ₴₴ ⱠØⱤĐ then the mans head would be on a platter. It could even be Hayate who would be the one to provide it. Messy, like Opal was. A space still not filled, and the thought of having another probable psycho take the seat didn't exactly encourage him to mention it. "I see." The man would offer quizzically, knowing full well that the blade was likely no longer necessary. Her spirit was crushed so readily, so easily with just a simple truth. Perhaps the reasoning for her being spared was not so nebulous.

"You will have your entire life to atone for your sins. I cannot absolve them, or can your friends. Find self control. I can imagine your pain. You have a lot to make right." He spoke with intensity, like a father to a mother, imagining how hard it was for him to look into a mirror at his own face. The truth of being what he was just for the sake of her safety. A tool, a puppet, a killer. In that they shared similarity. He'd stand strong, his gaze unwavered with hands hovering his weapons handles. "If that was your past, then make sure it remains true. Pray the day that I am not set upon you. I will not be as forgiving as your normal company."

[Mari 1]

 "I see."

His quiet acknowledgement caused Mari to look at him again. His tone shifted. Mari didn’t quite understand why. He spoke about how she had her entire life to atone for her sins. How he, nor her friends could absolve them. She had a lot to make right. Suddenly…there was something in the way he said those words. Mari’s eyes flashed with a type of realization, then concern that quirked her lips downward. Was he?  Mari couldn’t be sure. And would never, ever dare mention it. For a parent, it was almost taboo, too dangerous. Too painful.

"If that was your past, then make sure it remains true. Pray the day that I am not set upon you. I will not be as forgiving as your normal company."

“I’ll tell you what…” Mari said. Slowly approaching him. Closing the gap she grabbed onto his wrist with her own. If he were to try to attack him with his other hand - she’d block it with her arm - let it absorb the blow, and the pain. She had a point to make.

Mari used her strength to bring his blade precariously close to her own throat. Her gloved hand held his wrist tightly. The gem studded ring from Lancaster glistening in the light. A testament to her resolve. To why she would fight to live. Not that this man would ever know nor understand that. Her eyes held that same strong resolve. To do better. To be better. A calmness that she never would have in the past. Mari was astute. Mari was able to put things together, and when she put her mind to it - she was scarily determined. “ Try to slice my throat when those orders are rescinded. Bring me the peace I yearn for. Let me be taken away so I can see my beloved daughter again. I’d once say I’d welcome it. But I no longer can. I have someone here now” She would let him go, and continued.  “As you said, no one can absolve my sins but myself - and I live my life to do so. But go ahead. Try. I’d welcome the attempt. I’d rather it be someone who may just relate to my pain.”

Mari shifted away from him. “I’d ask your name, but I’d doubt you’d give it.” Mari turned her gaze toward the north. There wasn’t much left to say between them. She wouldn’t, couldn’t be mad if he even made an attempt for her life now after the stunt she pulled.

“I won’t repeat my past.But if I have to become a monster to protect my family, and those I love. So be it.” The way she said it, wasn’t a threat - a solemn reminder to herself. She’d do anything to protect those she cherished. Anything.

Edited 10 hours ago by Mari

[Bran 1]

The gold gleam of the ring on her finger did not go by unnoticed, and reports conveyed the man sneaking around. It actually worked in Lancaster's favor, that he wasn't planning an insurrection and instead he was playing house with a woman. This left even less of a reason for Bran to pull the trigger. The blade moved to her throat, Mari would find it rather easy for her to move. There wasn't much resistance, if anything there was more preventing him from finishing it. The blade itself would coil, this faint trails of black like webbing drifting on a breeze. Eager to end her life, like many before it. Duty bound the man would not pull it, as much as her own past failings left him sick to his stomach.

"The life we live is to honor those we left behind." Lowering the blade, turning it an sheathing it. His posture would provide a rigidity that eludes to practice, patience, and above all control. "Absolution is earned, not given. Any name I would offer you would be worthless, it was forfeited the moment I made own mistakes. I am a ghost still protecting the only thing I have left, as a puppet. A tool. Perhaps you will survive, to mourn her and feel the sting of your transgressions. Her laughter, her tears." He'd pull his arm away as the taste of his own failure caused his mouth to go sour like poison to the tongue. "Tell those you love to stop seeking salvation with wings of wax, they are flying too close to the sun. Their lives are in your hands, time to be a monster." With a vault to another nearby roof, to leave her behind.

[Mari 1]

"The life we live is to honor those we left behind." 

God...the man almost sounded like Baldur. Scarily so. He spoke of how absolution was earned, never given. And in a manner Mari expected, he refused to give his name. Instead calling himself a puppet and a tool. "Its why I fight." Mari said simply. "Because, as long as I live, so does her memory. That alone, is worth living through all the grief and bitter stings of my transgressions." The pain wasn't as deep, nor as cold. But the subject of her daughter was always a sore one for Mari. It had been discussed, dissected, and bought up so many times before to the point where she was almost numb it it when certain people tried to offer her platitudes regarding her. They tried. But they didn't understand. And yet here...in the nearing twilight hours of the 24th floor - a PKer...one Mari suspected to be in the Laughing Coffin - and if he had information on her? A finger? A leader? She wasn't sure - she couldn't assume but it was a high possibility. Here. Somehow, she found someone.

Someone who could offer those platitudes and words, that stinging reality because by the way he spoke Mari was all but assured that he had a child of his own. Much like Shield had. So few people could truly understand that. How...Odd...to find a unspoken connection to someone like that.

"Tell those you love to stop seeking salvation with wings of wax, they are flying too close to the sun. Their lives are in your hands, time to be a monster."

Those words just set off more concerns, alarms. Those close to her? Did he mean Lancaster? Or her friends on the frontlines...? Mari knew the coffin was trying to slow down the progression they were making. But - why would anyones life be in her hands? Why tell her it was time to be a monster?

Mari watched in silence as he vaulted to a nearby roof. This time, she didn't follow him. Had no reason to.

Just..questions.

[Bran 1]

Thread Closure:
Mari | [Word Count: 8437/5 = 1687.4] * [True Tier: 11] * [Group Factor: 1]* [Final Exp Modifier: 1.05] = 19489 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 2923 col, 1*Mon
Bran | [Word Count: 8437/5 = 1687.4] * [True Tier: 1] * [Group Factor: 1]* [Final Exp Modifier: 1.05] = 1772 EXP, 1*Mon